


Just One Day

by sashach



Series: Evanstan by Anie [2]
Category: Actor RPF, Captain America (Movies) RPF
Genre: English translation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 20:44:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7136432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sashach/pseuds/sashach
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I just wanted to write something domestic. Just an ordinary day with all the love and tenderness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just One Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anie/gifts).
  * A translation of [Evanstan短篇合集](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6884074) by [Anie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anie/pseuds/Anie). 



7:00  
Chris is woken up by the alarm. He frowns, turns to turn off the alarm before it gets louder. The wake-up music for mornings is usually a piano piece. There’s a file in Sebastian’s cell phone that contains only instrumental music, and every night before going to bed, Sebastian’s favorite ritual is finding a different piano piece for the next morning. Chris is fine with that. His favorite ritual before going to bed is poking at Sebastian’s puffed-up cheeks as he struggles to decide which piece to use. Although Sebastian is quick to react and he would slap Chris’ hand away, the latter would take advantage of the situation and pull Sebastian to him for a kiss.

The music stops, Chris goes back under the blanket. Sebastian’s eyelashes quiver slightly, like waves in the ocean.

Chris hugs him again, pulling him into his chest, a determined arm slinging across Sebastian’s waist. Skin to skin, comforting warmth like the fire burning in the fireplace, or the bonfire blazing in the wilderness. Chris prefers the fireplace. He’s always yearning for a stable life, like the one he’s enjoying now.

“…Time is it?” Sebastian shifts, cracks his eyes open a little, trying to focus; confused and dazed. He licks his dry lips as he speaks. It’s a habit he’ll never change. It comes naturally like breathing.

Sebastian’s voice is a little shaky; thick with exhaustion. Slightly restless and distracted for not being fully awake. His breath spills on Chris’ neck as he speaks, like the lazy breeze in spring.

“It’s still early. Go back to sleep,” Chris closes his eyes as he lowers his head and plants a kiss on top of Sebastian’s head. He pulls Sebastian up and arranges the blanket so that Sebastian’s face comes out from hiding underneath the blanket. That’s how Sebastian is when he’s deep in slumber. He would bury himself under the blanket with his head resting in the crook of Chris’ neck, so that he could kiss Chris’ collarbone by just tilting his head slightly. He has shrunk himself into Chris embrace, regulating his breath to the rhythm of Chris’ heartbeat.

Sebastian nods, leans forward and brushes a kiss against Chris’ lips dazedly. Then he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep. Sebastian trusts him wholeheartedly. A lion is just a big cat when it lets down its guard for you pat its paw pads.

Sebastian is once again deep in sleep. Last night was too exhausting for him; he’d felt his body water and his energy evaporated. In the end, he could only cling to Chris tightly. His remaining rational had told that him if he didn’t hold on to Chris, he would find himself deep in the mattress the next morning. He’d wanted Chris to slow down, but what had spilled out from his lips were only sobbing breaths.

Positive Sebastian is asleep, Chris opens his eyes, removes Sebastian’s arm from his waist and get down the bed silently. Sebastian remains asleep, breaths stable. His lips are a little swollen, still moist from the licking just now.

It’s a little gloomy outside. The sun is hiding behind dark clouds; any sunlight that manages to burst through the clouds scatters on the window sill, only to be blocked out by the blackout curtains. It’s the kind of weather for sleeping in, for staying at home, for watching a game, for eating jam-drizzled ice-cream.

Chris throws the condom package into the trash bin, and also the tissues that had been used to wipe away Sebastian’s tears. Chris had been forceful last night, pushing deeply into Sebastian. The brunet had moaned brokenly as his grabbed hold tightly of Chris back. Tears from exertion fell on Chris’ shoulders, mingled with perspiration.

Sebastian would never admit it was his tears on the tissue. He would argue the moisture was perspiration. But so what? Tears and perspiration are both salty and god damn sexy.

Chris twists the cap of the lube tight and puts the bottle back in the nightstand drawer. He has to put everything away, or else Sebastian would go crazy when he sees the mess when he wakes up.

Once everything is tidied up, Chris changes into something casual and sits on the edge of the bed as he watches Sebastian’s sleeping face. The air in the atmosphere stills and softens into a huge bubble. When Chris leans down to kiss Sebastian, the bubble bursts with a pop, spilling a brimful of love.

 

8:00  
Sebastian wakes up and feels the other side of the bed. Chris is already up. He yawns, noticing the soreness at where he had exert himself last night. He shakes his head, as if shaking away the sleepiness to find his senses. It’s starting to drizzle outside, drops of rain tapping on the window pane, like the rapid plucking of the strings of a harp.

He finds a crumpled t-shirt amidst the mess on the bed, spreads it out and throws it aside with disdain. He gets out of bed, opens the closet and puts on the first t-shirt he finds.

He needs a shower. Now. Immediately. Pronto.He needs a hot shower to save his sore muscles and the messy hair that would be a perfect place for Falcon to build a nest in.

There’s no sound of running water in the shower. Chris isn’t in there. Sebastian coughs. His throat is too dry. He frowns, turns and finds a glass of water that Chris has put on the nightstand.  
The warm liquid flows down his throat; comforting sweet moisture. Breathing feels easier now. Thank goodness he didn’t perform deep throat last night; his throat would have to announce early retirement.

 

8:35  
Chris has just brought in the newspaper when he sees a freshly showered Sebastian. Sebastian is wearing a t-shirt that could be his or Chris’; it’s hard to differentiate. He’s sitting on the couch drying his hair with a towel in one hand, scrolling his cell phone with the other.

“Hey,” Chris walks over, throws the newspaper on the coffee table and takes the phone from Sebastian. “You’re up.”

Sebastian shrugs, unaffected by Chris’ gesture. He lifts his gaze to Chris’ slightly damp hair and asks, “Is it raining heavily out there?”

“It’s okay,” Chris takes Sebastian’s towel and rubs his own hair casually. “Hungry?”

They always take turns to make breakfast, but Sebastian prefers when it’s Chris’ turn. Chris makes delicious scrambled eggs, and he looks especially adorable when he puts on the apron, all serious and solemn.

They have an apron. Just one, courtesy of Scarlett. On the apron is a rabbit with its back facing out, its cute tail soft and fluffy. Sebastian loves poking at the rabbit’s tail because that’s where he can poke right at Chris’ abs.

Chris would laugh and try to avoid him most of the times, and when Sebastian looks smug and proud of himself, he would encircle the brunet in his arms and caress his abs in turn. Then they would kiss, usually in the kitchen, the fragrance of scrambles eggs and toast floating in the air.

“Go away,” Sebastian smiles and kicks Chris in the shin when the kiss breaks. “I’m starving.”

Chris’ arms are strong. Just look at his biceps that get everyone screaming when he flexes his muscles. So strong he could hold Sebastian tightly. They had many scenes together, from the first Captain America movie to the third one; they also had many fight scenes together. In their words, “it’s sorta like a dance you share with somebody,” but they could still complete one or two sequences with ease. There’d been a time when sex was like a fight sequence for them. Sebastian would fling Chris’ arms, and Chris would kick Sebastian’s leg, and the two of them would eventually get entangled in the sheets, laughing gleefully like pre-schoolers. Chris’ beard would rub against Sebastian’s face, the excitement from their laugher burning the air.

Chris is like a huge dog, the kind that’s friendly and comes over to lick your entire face and wags its tail with enthusiast when it sees you. Before they were together, Sebastian had lived in an apartment building and one of his neighbors had a golden retriever. Every time when Sebastian went downstairs to get something from the convenient store, he would see his neighbor walking their dog.

The golden retriever was friendly to everyone, anyone. Especially Sebastian. It would run to Sebastian and hug his shin, its tail wagging behind.

 _Just like Chris. Hi, Chris Evans._ Sebastian would sigh to himself as he patted the dog’s head.

But Chris won’t just hug his shin, Chris would attach himself to Sebastian, clinging on, refusing to get down.

 _And I love when Chris Evans behaves like that_ , Sebastian has wanted to cover his face and yell more than several occasions. _Am I doomed?_

 

8:55  
Sebastian and Chris are sitting at the dining table, enjoying their breakfast. Sebastian has brought the newspaper over. He takes a bite at his ham sandwich as he curls his lips. The grin is a meaningful one.

“What?” Chris asks. He leans over and sees the entertainment section in the newspaper and he knows. “Jeez, you know that’s not true.”

“Dating, huh?” Sebastian arches his brow. “‘but they're having a lot fun and seeing where it goes,’ huh?”

“Seb…” Chris swallows his food and explains difficultly. “It’s just a gimmick to promote the movie. Jesus, we didn’t even have a picture together.”

“I’m just messing with you.” Sebastian smiles and turns over the newspaper. “Is it going to rain all day?”

Chris spreads his hands, a little sorry. “Looks like it. We have to cancel today’s plan. I’ll give Scott a call later and postpone our appointment to another day.”

“Staying home is nice.” Sebastian consoles him. “The bottle of wine won’t run away.”

“Movies…” sighs Chris. “Such a rare day off.”

“Dude, that’s what we do. And we have movies of our own to make,” Sebastian smiles, bright eyes shining with a shade of blue. “Since it’s such a rare day off, just let me enjoy the day with you, okay?”

 

9:10  
The sound of falling rain is still going on outside; inside the kitchen, water flowing from the tap is washing the plates. Sebastian’s fingers skim over the tableware. They’re singing with glee. 

Chris wants some coffee. He finds the beans in the cupboard and puts on the coffee pot. There are several variety of instant coffee in the cupboard; that’s what they have when they’re running out of time. They’re always running out of time.

“Can you put the rest of the beers on the coffee table into the fridge?” Sebastian calls out to Chris. “Then take out the steak. I want that for lunch.”

“Okay!” Chris waits for the grinder to start before he goes to the living room to take the beers into the kitchen. The cans are stacked together, threatening to tumble. He puts the beers into the fridge and takes out the frozen steaks from the freezer.

Below the steaks are several ice packs for their bruises. They had used those almost every day when they were filming Captain America. Chris checks the ice packs, wondering if they should start making ice cubes. Summer is on its way.

Sebastian stacks up the clean plates to put them back into the cupboard. Chris’ hands are still cold from touching the ice packs, so cold Sebastian would probably jump and drop the plates and if he touches him. And he does that. Cold fingers brush against Sebastian’s neck making him jumps in surprise; Chris secures the plates firmly before they dropped.

“Stay away from me, Chris!” Sebastian puts the plates back into the cupboard angrily, and shuts the cupboard with a slam.

Chris loves playing pranks and he loves the stunned look on Sebastian’s face when his mischief works. Childish like the arrogant high school kid who makes fun of his crush.

He hugs Sebastian from behind and rubs his face against his hair, laughing loudly. Sebastian couldn’t help but quirks the corners of his lips when he hears the laughter. He should be mad, but he just couldn’t.

 _I am so doomed_ , Sebastian thinks in despair. _I’ve surrendered all my patience and good temper to Chris Evans._

 

9:30  
Chris takes out a basket container that’s full of different kind of movie DVDs. He rummages the basket for a while and picks out a few discs.

“ _Captain America_?” Chris suggests as he turns his head.

“Give the movie a rest,” Sebastian walks to the coffee pot. He mixes the coffee powder with hot water. There’s a tinge of bitterness in the fragrance of the coffee. “Let’s watch something that doesn’t have us, okay, my friend?”

“Do you doubt Steve and Seb… sorry, Steve and Bucky’s love?” teases Chris, his voice deliberately high in pitch, as he puts the _Captain America_ trilogy back into the basket container.

“Babe,” Sebastian sits on the floor, snuggling close to Chris. He ruffles Chris gel-free hair. It’s soft and fluffy, nice to touch. He ruffles some more. “We’ll talk when you can differentiate me and Bucky.”

“Who the hell is babe?” Chris looks at him, quirking a brow. Sebastian purses his lips, trying not to laugh while the lines at the corners of his eyes are brimming with a tender smile. Chris puts the basket container on his legs and returns Sebastian’s earlier gesture. Two grown men, liberated from hair products, laughing on the wooden floor while ruffling each other’s hair into a messy fluff. 

“I’m your good daddy,” says Chris jokingly.

“Get lost,” Sebastian pats Chris’ face softly and climbs up from the floor. “More like my good Dodger.”

Sebastian goes to the counter and grabs himself a mug to get some coffee. Dark-colored coffee flows from the pot into the mug, piping hot. He blows a little and takes a sip.

Brewed coffee is totally different from instant coffee. The goodness of brewed coffee takes time to acquire, but unlike the rushed flavor of instant coffee, the taste is more fragrant and refined.

Sebastian doesn’t like bitter coffee; neither does Chris. Sebastian loves adding one extra sugar cube, and Chris loves adding extra cream. They fight over that all the time.

And all for nothing. The pot is obviously full of coffee, but all they see is that one mug of coffee. In the end, the mug of coffee would become a cocktail of flavor, thanks to their bickering. The rich color is diluted by too much cream, and the bitterness is overpowered by too many sugar cubes.

“Well,” Sebastian takes a sip and passes the mug to Chris with contempt. ”Thanks to your bad taste, now it tastes like milk tea.”

“You turned it into syrup!” Chris argues indignantly. “Won’t you get cavities?”

“I’m gonna buy Anthony dinner if I ever fight over such a trivial issue with you,” Sebastian rolls his eyes. “Like two morons.”

Of course they still bicker; of course Anthony still hasn’t had the dinner Sebastian promised.

Anthony knows about this. Oh, he knows and he has done a little calculation. Sebastian owes him at least one hundred dinners; one hundred million, if you round it off. Those two are incorrigible. It takes Anthony all his self-restraint to not delete Sebastian and Chris’ numbers from his contact list.

“Here, give it a try,” Sebastian puts the mug at Chris’ lips. Chris has found a couple of treasured DVDs, and is telling him enthusiastically how he and Scott had fought in their yard to decide which movie to watch, and how Mrs. Evans had stopped them. Chris and Scott didn’t get to see the movie their wanted to watch in the end. Chris is animated, waving his hands around, beaming like a bright star. He pauses when he sees the coffee and takes a sip.

“It’s good, right?” asks Sebastian. “Admit it. The beans I bought are so much better than the ones you bought.”

“That’s because you added sugar,” Chris shrugs. “It’s terrible when you add sugar.”

“I did not!” Sebastian defends. “You used all the sugar to make soup the other day! And it didn’t even taste good at all!”

Chris is about to argue some more when Sebastian’s cell phone buzzes. He glares at Chris before picking up his phone. It’s Scott.

Sebastian tells Scott he and Chris probably can’t make it to the appointment today. Chris just sits on the floor, picking a movie as he listens to Sebastian talk.

Sebastian’s voice is soft and gentle. His laughter is easy on the ears. In Chris’ words, it’s like hot chocolate dunked with three marshmallows. Sebastian has beautiful eyes, the beautiful curl of his lips looks as if it could take away all your thoughts. He doesn’t have to do a single thing; a thoughtful stare into a distance would make him look loving and affectionate.

There is a reason for Chris’ compulsion to kiss Sebastian whenever he sees him.

“What did Scott say?” asks Chris when Sebastian hangs up the call.

“He said to meet some other day,” Sebastian lies down on the couch and pulls out a book from under the pillow. “He also said Dodger peed on him and asked me to punch you.”

“Hahahahahahahahaha, he deserves it!” Chris can’t stop laughing when he thinks about the image. He wipes away the tears as he takes out a DVD from the basket. “ _Snow White_?”

“Whatever,” Sebastian takes out the bookmark. He understands Chris’ love for anything Disney. After all, an extra amount has been added to the blond’s annual contribution to Disneyland since they’ve been together.

 

10:30  
“Honestly,” Sebastian has already put the book back under the pillow as he says to Chris, “I’d love to play Snow White’s stepmother.”

“You can just play my Bucky,” says Chris. “If you were the stepmother, I’d probably share the poisoned apple with you.”

“That’d be terrible,” Sebastian kicks Chris’ leg. “The dwarves have to carry us two. You’re so heavy.”

Sebastian falls asleep half way through the movie. At first, he’s leaning against the back of the couch, then he slides down slowly to lean on Chris’ shoulder, and eventually slides down to his thighs.

Chris holds him mid-way, so that he can lay comfortably on his thighs. Very carefully, Chris entwines their fingers together.

They’ve been together for a long time, but they still blush and their hearts thud whenever the word “love” is mentioned. They say that a lot to many people, to their co-stars, their fans, their audience; they’d even said it in their past relationships. But they only feel self-conscious when they’re with each other. It’s like an unspoken secret.

The movie is still playing. The prince has found the crystal coffin and sees Snow White. The birds chirp merrily, the deers bat their big eyes and walk gingerly, and the dwarves dance happily around the coffin.

It’s a happy ending. Snow White and her prince live happily ever after. But for how long? Chris doesn’t know the answer; he never ponders too deeply about it. It’s too harsh to judge fairy tales through the eyes of reality. The real world is full of different emotions: happiness, sadness, anger; separation and reunion. He only wants to cherish the moment, the now. He wants to enjoy what he has right now: he’s young, he has a family, he has dreams, he has a dog, he even has a life with Sebastian. Sebastian is his greatest fortune and biggest surprise.

 

11:00  
Chris shifts his legs and Sebastian is awakened. He isn’t deep in sleep.

“Jeez,” Sebastian sits up as he rubs his eyes and looks the clock on the wall. “It’s eleven. Is the movie over?”

“It’s over,” says Chris seriously. “The prince and the stepmother have gotten married while you were sleeping. They have a grand wedding.”

“Huh? What?” Sebastian is astounded. He’s just woke up; barely conscious.

“Just kidding,” Chris smiles and sits up. His legs are a little numb from having Sebastian laying on them. He moves and shakes his body a bit. “Of course the prince and the princess live happily ever after. It’s a fairy tale.”

“Fuck you.” Realizing what’s going on, Sebastian rolls his eyes at Chris and gets up to go to the kitchen to cook the steaks. “What flavor do you want?”

“Mushroom sauce,” says Chris.

“Oh,” nods Sebastian. He goes to the kitchen, mumbling to himself. “Black pepper sauce it is then.”

“Hey!” Chris is both amused and upset.

Sebastian puts on the apron. He’s become much thinner after filming the third Captain America movie, since he finally doesn’t have to put on so much weight in such a short time. He’d once wondered if he was anorexic. Everything had tasted like wax when he was beefing up.

There’re endless repercussions from filming such movies: bad appetite, sleeping badly, injuries, etc. The traveling and hotel accommodations during press tours are the only comfort for him.

The truth is, even though he’s been to so many countries, he hardly has the time to go sightseeing. The usual itinerary is plane—hotel—meet and greet—interviews. Thank goodness Chris is with him. Thank goodness Chris and him are together.

He puts the butter into the pan, heating it slowly, then slides down the steak.

It’s barely raining now. The fresh air after the rain, mingled with the fragrance of green grass and soil, travels into the kitchen through the open windows. Sebastian loves the slightly wet smell. When he was in Constanta, he always played at the harbor. The sea was black, the breeze smelled of clear, wet salty ocean. And when it rained, little ripples appeared as if little fishes were kissing the water surface.

 

11:50  
They’re finally having lunch. Sebastian complains about having a late breakfast and cuts his steak into halves; giving Chris the other half.

Chris helps him hang the apron in the kitchen before sitting down to cut the steak in front of him.

Sebastian makes mushroom sauce in the end. Chris cuts out a small piece of the steak and puts it in his mouth. The meat is tender and the heat off the pan elicit a sigh from him.

“What?” Sebastian decides to finish his bowl of mashed potatoes first. This rare day off has given him the luxury of time to make themselves a nice lunch. “Found my new career move?”

“Black pepper sauce is better,” says Chris sincerely.

Sebastian lifts his head to look at Chris. The blond is cutting his steak carefully; his lashes hanging down like tiny fans. Sebastian pauses a while and rolls his eyes and says, “So hard to please. Fuck you.”

And Chris laughs. Probably remembering the stupid things he and Sebastian had done before. Like that one time when they had a cussing competition in the air-conditioned dressing room backstage. Both of them had been equally rivaled and Chris had won the competition after searching the back of his mind for more curse words. He still remembers Sebastian’s stunned expression at that time. The brunet had opened his mouth to say something in retort, but couldn’t find the words. Eventually, he had licked his lips and said, “Oh my god. Chris Evans, you won.”

People always say Sebastian is sweet-tempered around him; soft-spoken like a sweet and gentle East European prince. Chris thinks that’s unfair because none of them are there when Sebastian screams at him.

Like now. This instance.

“Chris!” As if remembering something, Sebastian says to Chris, “Have we collected the things we hung out to dry?”

“Huh?” Chris is putting some greens in his plate with the salad spatula, his hands are now hanging mid-air upon hearing the question. He looks comical. “I don’t know. Maybe. No, I mean, probably not?”

“Go! Now!” Sebastian stands up abruptly, grabbing Chris arm to run to the balcony.

The force makes Chris stumbles as he drops the salad spatula into the salad bowl. He jogs the distance with Sebastian, unable to tell him it’s already too late. The rain has already stopped.

“Fuck.” Sebastian feels the wet sheet. As expected, they have to wash it again. He has Chris takes one corner of the sheet and they pull it down together.

Chris lets go of his hands half way and the sheet slips from his fingers and enshrouds Sebastian completely.

“Hey!” Nervous, Sebastian tries to get out of the sheet. When he’s able to see again, he hears Chris’ laughter.

Sebastian wants to wrap Chris in the sheet and throws him out.

But of course, he only does it in his mind.

 

12:11  
Sebastian puts the sheet into the washing machine to wash again. He remembers something when he picks up the detergent.

“We’re running out of shower gel,” he returns to the dinning table and sits down coolly.

“Yeah?” Chris asks uneasily as he continues to eat his salad.

“You drink shower gel?” Sebastian questions.

“And I wanted to ask if you drink shampoo!” Chris refutes.

“I have long hair!” says Sebastian. He has to keep his hair long to play Bucky. “You know that!”

“And I have more muscles!” Chris continues to argue. “You’ve touched them!”

Fine.

Sebastian decides to end this conversation before it goes to NC-17. He glares at Chris.

“I’ll get it tomorrow.” Chris raises his hands in surrender.

 

13:00  
They finally finish lunch and hang out the freshly washed sheet. The mild sun after the rain shines into the apartment. Sebastian takes a blanket and a couple of pillows to the bay window.

The bay window isn’t very big. It can only sit one person and a small foldable table at most, for cups or other odds and ends.

Sebastian had used to like to sit there and smoke. There would an ashtray on the small table for his cigarettes. Sometimes he would sit there alone with the lights out. He would put his laptop on his lap and play a black and white movie. Next to him would be the small table and on it the ashtray.

The movie was black and white. The living room was black and white. The only color was the dim light of the cigarette burning between Sebastian’s fingers. He loves exaggerating comedies and he would read the lines aloud as he watched the actors on the screen and laughed. His relationship with Chris at that time had been at a bottleneck. After the uncertainty at the beginning of the relationship, and the passion when they were head over heels over each other, they had no idea how they should move on.

When Chris came home late from press tours for his movie, he’d opened the door to find Sebastian asleep; the laptop on his thighs in sleep mode, the light on the side of the laptop shining. Sebastian was leaning against the wall, his head in the pillow. There were three or four cigarette butts in the ashtray.

Chris sighed and took the pillow from Sebastian’s arms, waking him up in the process. Sebastian shifted his numbed legs, squinted his eyes at Chris and said, “You’re here.”

Chris hugged him like he had every night when they were first together and muttered at his ears as if talking to himself. “What should I do with you?”

Fortunately, they’d found the right track, like they are now. Gentle ocean after the ice has been broken.

Sebastian sits down by the bay window. He’s stopped smoking not for any other reason, but because Chris had told him not to smoke so much. Sebastian couldn’t decide how much was not so much and decided to quit once and for all. The process had been a torment. One doesn’t quit a habit all of a sudden. And now he chews gum to divert the loneliness without cigarettes.

Chris is sitting on the floor under the bay window. He has anxiety issues, it used to be serious, but it’s better now. He thinks too much, knows too many people, he’s surrounded by too many people, and he drinks too much coffee. He’d gone through three consecutive late nights surviving on bitter coffee without cream when he was editing _Before We Go_.

That’s why his favorite way of relaxation is to zone out and not think; taut strings releasing its tenseness.

And Sebastian likes to read. He’s been spotted by fans several times in bookstores.

The sun has already appeared, throwing lazy warmth on the bay window. Sebastian is sitting there reading a book. He leaves through the pages quietly; his hair hanging down his forehead. His silhouette is everything Chris adores.

And Chris is sitting under the bay window with his eyes closed, not thinking anything. Or maybe something trivial, something relaxing. His expression is happy and relaxed.

The hands of the clock move silently. One round, another round. From start to end; from end to start. Every end is a beginning.

Sebastian finds an interesting example in the book and his strokes Chris’ hair with his hand. Chris opens his eyes and turns to look at him.

Sunshine has colors. Right now, it’s the color of Chris’ eyes. Blue and crystal clear.

“I’ve something to show you…” Sebastian smiles as he finishes reading that example, then he pulls out his cell phone. “Anthony once told me a similar joke. Let me find it.”

Chris looks up at Sebastian as the brunet searches for the text message. Sebastian reads him the joke, giggling non-stop after reading only a couple of words. Chris interrupts him and climbs up the bay window to snuggle against him and read the message himself. Without the foldable table, Chris realizes, they fit nicely on the bay window. 

Anthony’s joke isn’t that funny, but it doesn’t take much for Chris to laugh, and that affects Sebastian, making him laughs at just about anything. So they’re dissolved into a pile on the bay window, laughing incessantly over a silly joke.

“I say,” Sebastian looks at Chris closely as he wipes away the tears from laughing too hard. “Your ear piercing is so damn sexy.” And touches Chris’ left ear lobe.

Chris raises his brow and removes Sebastian’s hand to put it in his hand. “I had it because I thought it was cool when I was a kid. Now confess. Did you ever dream of putting something on me?”

“A ring,” Sebastian licks his lips. “Preferably full of diamonds. Look, Chris Evans and his diamond rimmed earrings. It’s hot just thinking about.”

“You can forget about it if you’re not going to tattoo ‘Chris Evans is my boyfriend’ on your arm.” Chris curls up with Sebastian, placing the blanket over them. He’s a little drowsy; the late afternoon sun is making him sleepy.

“I really wanted to get one,” says Sebastian with a tinge of regret. “But the PR people and my agent would kill me. No, the first one would be your PR people. She works her ass off in the last few years just to prove how straight you are.”

Chris doesn’t say a word. He hugs Sebastian loosely and covers themselves with the blanket.

Sebastian places the bookmark between the pages and puts the book aside. He snuggles under the blanket with Chris and smiles jokingly. “Well, don’t we look like a pair of retirees now.”

“It’d be great if we retire,” says Chris as he closes his eyes. “We could nap every day.”

 

16:50  
Sebastian doesn’t really sleep. He naps a bit with Chris before picking up his book again. He’s almost done reading it.

Chris sleeps, laying against him, one arm hanging around his shoulder. Chris’ breath is slow and peaceful. Bluish dark circles hang under his eyes that always seem to be tinted with eye-shadow. Tell-tale signs of exhaustion from never-ending work, and satisfaction from the brief rest.

Chris wakes up when Sebastian has finished reading the epilogue. His phone is ringing persistently. He’s up before Sebastian even picks it for him. He sits up and complains his neck is going to break before giving Sebastian a kiss.

Sebastian loves kissing. The velvety contact of lips is like the gentle connection of two hearts. Chris’ kiss is sometimes tender and sometimes aggressive. The latter always leaves Sebastian breathless.

The call disconnect a couple of times, but rings again, unrelenting. Chris gets down to take the call. Sebastian tells him he should shave because his beard is scratching his chin.

The call is from his assistant. The program for tomorrow’s event has been slightly amended; the rain doesn’t effect the flying schedule. Chris has to leave for the airport at four in the morning.

Chris checks all the adjustments of the event with his assistant one by one and hangs up the call.

“Seb,” calls Chris. “I’m thinking about ordering take outs, what do you want?”

“Pizza. We still have one coupon from the last delivery,” says Sebastian. “Order the usual.”

Chris nods. He calls the delivery and orders dinner.

Sebastian brings his laptop over. His agent has asked him to send an e-mail reply. He opens the form sent by his agent; some info are required for registration. He fills in the form seriously according to the template provided by his agent.

Chris checks his phone to see what he’s missed and sends a text message to Anthony.

_dude, that joke was so funny. 10/10_

Anthony’s reply is prompt.

_??????_

 

17:45  
Chris’ delivery arrives on time. The young delivery guy seems anxious. He doesn’t even lift his head to take a look at Chris, and leaves hurriedly after Chris has signed and paid for the delivery.

There’s a football telecast this evening. Sebastian and Chris eat the pizzas as they watch the game. The emotional commentary has Sebastian laughing his ass off.

Chris loves The Patriots, loves Tom Brady. He twits about his support for Tom all the time. Sebastian knows that. Sebastian hadn’t been interested in football before, but now he can name the players of The Patriots without a hitch.

At half-time, Sebastian chews on the cheese on his pizza and asks, “What time is your flight?”

“Four thirty,” replies Chris wistfully. “If there’s a delay, it could be seven, or eight. The organizer might change the time to start the event, but it seems unlikely now.”

“Don’t wake me up,” Sebastian swallows his pizza. His Adam’s apple rolls as he gulps his water. “I need to make sure of my sleep quality.”

“Last night’s quality was good,” says Chris with mocked dejection.

“I mean sleep quality. Not the quality of our night endeavor!” Sebastian cuts a piece of pizza and puts it into Chris’ mouth. The tip of Chris’ tongue slides across his fingers. Sebastian feels his face burning. It must be burning from the ends of his wet fingers to the tip of his ears. Chris is good at flirting with him; Chris knows what turns Sebastian on.

 

21:39  
The result of the game isn’t satisfactory. The performance of the players sucks so bad even Sebastian has to admit the game is like shit. And the commentary for the second half is listless and uninteresting.

Chris rolls his eyes hard when the result is shown on the screen. He switches to another channel. An entertainment show. The pompously dressed host is playing a clip from their previous press tour for the third Captain America movie.

“Well, look at you,” Chris points at the Sebastian on the screen. “Look how sweet you smile. Your smile was that seducing when I first met you. But who knew it was all a false front.”

“Am I not sweet?” Sebastian bats his eyes innocently. “Your mouth slipped, and you called me ‘Sebby’ during the press tour. I had to suppress the urge to punch you.”

“Oh. My. God!” Chris yells in feigned shock. “You actually thought about punching me in front of the entire world?”

Sebastian points at the tv screen and says, “Could you have some self-control next time? We were promoting a movie and you behaved as though you’re coming out openly.”

“It was you, Mr. Sebastian Stan,” says Chris. “I only hugged you for a second when we were in Singapore, and then you hugged that kid with such enthusiast. Care to share why you were so happy?”

“Fuck you!” rebukes Sebastian furiously. “You were the one who said ‘I love you’ when we hugged. Were you there to promote the movie or were you there to get married?”

“It was you who hugged me so tight!” Chris attacks. “I thought you were going to kiss me the next second.”

“I was done hugging. You refused to let go of me!”

And they argue over the question. Like children.

 

21:53  
The argument ends with a question from Chris. “I like you so much, why are you still unhappy?”

Chris has to get up early to get to the airport; they decide to have an early night. Sebastian goes to shower first, while Chris washes up in the bathroom connected to the shower room. Steam from the hot shower clouds the space, from the other side of the frosted glass door, Sebastian reminds Chris to get the shower gel.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Chris spits out the toothpaste foam in his mouth. “The supermarket we always go. Shower aisle, second row, the second brand from the left. No bath salts. I have it all memorized.”

The sound of running water in the shower room fades away. Sebastian dries himself and comes out wearing a bathrobe. He says, “Maybe I should go get it myself. Who knows at what godforsaken hour are you coming back tomorrow.”

“Seriously, do we have to shower separately?” Chris goes in the shower room and adjusts the water temperature. “Logically speaking, It’s ridiculous and a waste of water.”

“Considering you have to be up early tomorrow, we must shower separately, thank you very much.” Sebastian walks past Chris and starts to blow dry his hair. “I only have one question. Can you not fuck me in the shower for once?”

“No can’t.”

 

22:20  
By the time Chris is finished with his shower and blown his hair dry, Sebastian is already sitting in the bed. The yellow light from the lamp on the nightstand brightens the corner, shrouding Sebastian in golden warmth. Tiny specks of dust dance in his territory.

“What are you reading?” Chris sits on the bed and leans over to look at the perfectly bound print in Sebastian’s hands.

Sebastian feels the other side of the bed sinks. He turns a page and says, “A script. For the next movie.”

“Need to dye your hair this time?” Chris ruffles Sebastian’s hair. His hair is dyed back to brown again after dyeing it blond. Streaks of gold can still be found in the soft brown mane.

“No, Chris, I don’t have to make any changes.” Sebastian covers his hair. “Memorize the lines, act, done.”

“I hope the actress you’re working with is hot,” teases Chris. He sets the alarm to ten minutes before four. “So that you won’t think about playing with my pecs all the time.”

Sebastian closes the script and puts it on the nightstand. He reaches out a hand to caress Chris’ pecs and says, “Shall we sleep, hottie?”

Chris laughs as he pulls Sebastian into his chest. He leans over to turn off the bedside lamp, then tightens his arms around Sebastian. He tucks the hair hanging down Sebastian’s forehead to the back of his ear, plants a kiss on his forehead, and says with a smile, “Goodnight, Seb.”

Sebastian doesn’t say a word. This rare day off is so short he can’t bear to part with it. He buries himself in Chris’ chest. Chris has an arm around his waist. Their breaths and heartbeats synchronize slowly into one frequency.

“Goodnight,” whispers Sebastian. “I wish I could see you every morning.”

He can only say that in the deep of the night. He has never repeated those words in front of Chris. Damn his tiny little self-esteem. He won’t even admit defeat when they argue.

 

03:50  
The alarm goes off on the dot. Chris turns it off before it wakes Sebastian up.

Quietly, he gets down the bed to wash up. Then, sleepy and exhausted, he changes into his outfit.

Sebastian is still sleeping. The space next to him is too empty and he tugs the blanket around himself tightly, creasing his brows slightly.

Chris is always saying how the sleeping prone of Sebastian evokes his urge to shower him with all the candies and love. Sebastian would smirk and say only an indie film director would have such thoughts, but don’t use it on me, please.

Before Chris opens the door of the bedroom, but turns and walks back. He stands by the bed for a while and leans down to kiss Sebastian.

 _I love you. I want to tell you that every morning._ Chris hears himself says.

He can only say that when he wakes up alone in the morning. Sebastian might never know how much he loves him.

“Wait,” Sebastian turns and opens his eyes, brows furrowed.

“Did I wake you up?” Chris feels a little apologetic. “Go back to sleep.”

But Sebastian is not listening to him. Bleary-eyed, he says, “There’s a sandwich and some milk in the fridge… you can warm it up.”

Chris’ heart swells, as though filled with honeyed sweetness. He couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his lips. He wants to say something, but Sebastian has already retreated back underneath the blanket.

Surprisingly, Chris’ exhaustion has been lifted completely.

 

07:00  
The event is starting in thirty minutes; Chris is getting ready. Slightly restless, he sits on the couch, checking his cell phone constantly. The alarm in Sebastian’s cell phone should be ringing now. Is Sebastian up? Has he seen the breakfast he’d prepared for him? Did he sleep well?

“Is anything wrong?” Chris’ assistant asks with concern when he sees how fidgety the blond is.

Chris doesn’t say anything. The staff asks him to get ready to go on stage. He adjusts his suit and goes out, but his thoughts are on the cell phone that his assistant is now holding.

Chris is familiar with such events. He may be a little dizzied by the flashlights and the speakers, but he completes each segment with perfection.

He returns backstage hurriedly and takes back his cell phone from his assistant. He unlocks the phone and finds a new text message.

It’s a simple ”thank you” followed by a smiling emoji, and signed off with a simple “S.S.”.

A simple text. As simple as the day Chris has just had.

“Are you okay?” Chris’s assistant looks at his happy expression. It’s entirely different from the fidgeting just now. He couldn’t help but feel more concerned.

“I want to go home. Now,” says Chris, clasping the cell phone tightly in his hand.

Sebastian opens the curtains when he wakes up. It seems like it had rained again last night. The air is suffused with wet vapor.

It reminds him of something. An ordinary life after several busy projects. The brilliant light behind layers of clouds. The air after the rain. The green grass laden with dewdrops. A breakfast made by his partner. A morning, dazed and sleepy, like barbital?

Maybe a Pablo Neruda poem.

Maybe there’re many other things, Sebastian can’t remember.

Maybe, in the end, it’s just Chris Evans. An uncomplicated name; an uncomplicated answer to all the questions. Just as Sebastian Stan is whom Chris expectantly looks forward to every day.

_Sometimes I get up early and even my soul is wet._  
_Far away the sea sounds and resounds._  
_This is a port._  
_Here I love you_

**Author's Note:**

> Translator's note: Anie is very kind to grant me the permission to translate her fic. The translation has not been proofread, all mistakes are mine. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you found any blunder.


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